Song Sung Blue, The Housemaid and Fackham Hall

 

Based on the real life Neil Diamond tribute act Lightning and Thunder, Song Sung Blue is saved by a great performance from Kate Hudson as Claire. She deserved being nominated for best actress at the Golden Globes. I remeber her vividly from the 2000 film Almost Famous so that was twenty five years ago! But Hugh Jackman is as wooden as ever, only there because he can actually sing. As he did in The Greatest Showman. The script of this latest film was also pretty poor, so I was glad we had so  many Neil Diamond songs to enjoy. And I did. Not forgetting a couple of barnstorming numbers from a Buddy Holly act.

The problem with a true story is that it can be sometimes quite boring. Here we have a recovering alchoholic, single parents and a horrific motor accident that so badly injured Claire. All too true. Why could we not just have had a fictional story about a tribute act. This film is written, co-produced and directed by Craig Brewer and based on the 2008 documentary by Greg Kohs. What was surprising were the performances from the two daughters, Ella Anderson and King Princess. Somehow their engaging personalities came over really well. especially when they first meet and discuss their similar backgrounds. There are also some other good supporting roles. 

As for the critics, the LA Times said "You wont see a movie with better music or worse dialogue ...... (but) bizarrely charming". Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian called it an "undeniably entertaining true life story" and Tome Shone in the Sunday Times "it just shows reality is a poor screenwriter".

The Housemaid was basically a three hander, so quite theatrical in that it was mostly dialogue, Lots of twists and turns along the way as in all these types of movies. It reminded me of those 70's and 80's thrillers such as Fatal Attraction or Jagged Edge. I thought Amanda Siegfried was great as the wife Nina who has her ups and downs. Sydney Sweeney as Millie is not the greatest actress but seems to get a lot of exposure. Brabdon Sklenar as the husband Andrew Winchester was always creepy.

So just the one set , that large mansion in Long Island. Directed by Paul Feig and adapted from Freida McFadden's 2022 bestseller by Rebecca Sonnenshire. There is little plausability to the plot, but this "pulpy thriller" doesn't care. Surprisingly Peter Bradshaw in the Guardian gave it four stars and called it "outrageously enjoyable". Wendy Ide said it was  "plausable and preposterous". I thought it was clever when during the first part of the film you wondered for a long time who these people were. Only later to have all their back story. Not really my kind of movie, but fun in it's way. 

Fackham Hall is a comedy Downton Abbey. I thought there was far too much swearing (although perhaps there wasn't). Co-written by director Jim O'Hanlon (he should stick to the latter) and Jimmy Carr. The screenplay was packed with innuendo and a real mixed bag. The cast did not seem to buy into the script, except that is for Tomasin McKenzie as Rose Davenport. She's a fine actress who I remember vividly from One Night in Soho as well as JoJo Rabbit and Old. Even Damian Lewis unsuccessfully played it for laughs as her father. Ben Radcliffe played the joint lead as Eric and is not great even though quite personable. He has not done his future prospects any favours. The rest of the cast seemed to be unknowns and it showed. I don't think it warranted a cinematic release, but a British comedy is not to be ignored. Thank goodness for Tomasin. Some of the critics were more impressed, some not. That mixed bad again.

Wake Up, Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery at The Rex Berkhamsted

 

Having enjoyed the first two Knives Out movies, I had to wait until Wake Up, Dead Man arrived for it's one day showing at the Rex, Berkhamsted. As it is a Netflix production, it failed to be shown in either Odeon or Cineworld cinemas, unlike the first two. See posts of 13th December 2019 and 1st December 2022. The latest story revolves around Josh O'Connor as the assistant pastor at the isolated church of Out Lady of Perpetual Fortitde. It's the pastor there Josh Brolin who provides the body for a typical locked room mystery. There are, as in all these things, an all star cast, any one of whom could or could not be the murderer. 

This, for me, this is so much like an Agatha Christie drama. Substitute private detective Benoit Blanc (played full titlt by Daniel Craig) for any Poirot or Miss Marple story. Christie paved the way for all those detective dramas with multiple suspects. But now, most of these were made for TV, so this felt different on the big screen. For once I'm going to avoid going through the whole cast, only to say that Andrew Scott was hilarious as a fauiling writer. I found the plot was a little convoluted and the explanation was done in a flash. But this is a terrific black comedy and I did laugh a lot. There is an excellent script and sharp and clever dialogue from writer and director Rian Johnson. As Mark Kermode said in his glowing review, no-one else is making these kind of films any more.

The Weston Turville Wassail

It was on Sunday afternoon that my usual route through Weston Turville Allotments was blocked by a large gathering of people and cars. It was only after I edged my way through on the public footpath that I found a man and his dog to ask about the event. 

The Weston Turville Wassail is a popular annual village tradition celebrating the the comimg apple harvest. Dancing with music provided by Cracklewick Morris (see their facebook page). Who would have thought.

Cygnets at Weston Turville Resrvoir

 

It's not often that I can get a close up picture of the cygnets, but at the weekend they were touring the reservoir. The bright sunshine meant there were nice shadows on the water.

Two of them stayed at the far end, dipping their heads in the water.

Movies at Home - The Railway Children, The Undertaker and Sabrina

 

Here is a classic family drama from 1970. The Railway Children is based on the book by E Nesbitt and directed by Lionel Jeffries. The background to the film can be found on my post of 24th November 2025: Classic Movies on Sky Arts - Series 4 Episode 5 - The Story of the Railway Children. There is not much else to say except it is all told from the children's point of view, with our narrator being the eldest child played by Jenny Agutter. (Who I met at The Globe theatre). It was nice when at the beginning and it's Christmas, Peter gets a train for a present. I remember my own clockwork O gauge train set. 

I liked the contrast between their rich London life and the much more basic, but actually happier time in the country. The film includes all those great character actors and the exterior shots are so clear and bright. It certainly is a classic.

The Undertaker stars Paul McGann at his very best. The role suited him so well. A quiet morose bachelor, Arthur is meticulous in his work, having to cope on his own after his partner died. The film was released in 2023, but it looks like something from the sixties. It is set in Northern England sometime in that same decade. Most of the colour has been drained from the print. Nearly all of the film takes place in the shop where who should turn up but gangster Finlay Unsworth. He is played by Roger Barclay in one of the biggest casting errors I have ever seen. He would not have scared a young child. And his acting was awful. Maybe there as he was on of the producers. Fortunately there is the marvelous Tara Fitzgerald as the new assistant. She despairs when her boss agrees to arrange burials for Unsworth. And things spiral out of control. But the writing and direction by Michael Wright was top class.

The film reminded me of a similar story from the 2022 film called The Outfit that starred Mark Rylance who runs a tailor shop in Chicago. See my post 3rd March 2025.

The 1953 movie Sabrina is a Billy Wilder classic. Although I had never heard about it before it arrived on the BBC. A very clever comedy, it has an all star cast with Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart and William Holden. Adapted from the stage play Sabrina's Fair by Samuel Taylor. There is not a lot of plot, it relies on the witty script to tell the story of the Larrabee brothers from a wealthy Long Island family and their chauffer's daughter Sabrina played by Hepburn. She is madly in love with David, the playboy of the two brothers who ignores her. Humphrey Bogart's Linus is only interested in the family business.

When Sabrina returns from two years at a finishing school in Paris, she is all grown up and suddenly the object of David's affection, although he is due to be soon married. This was all fine and quite enjoyable until the second half became quite tedious. Sabrina's relationship with Linus did not work at all. Bogart was far too old and grumpy for this role. He was obviously there for the name but was totally miscast. It need a Cary Grant type for Sabrina to change her affections. 

Some of the reviews were more positive: "fast paced, witty and engaging", "lightweight and frothy". Yes, the script was great, and I really liked Sabrina's father, the chauffer, played by John Williams, and some terrific tiny performances. The black and white cinematography by Charles Lang looked great and the dialogue first class.

My Shakespeare by Greg Doran - Parts 34 to 36

 

This is the last of the twelve posts on Greg Doran's marvelous book My Shakespeare - A Director's Journey through the First Folio. Not just a memoir but also remarkable insights into the process of staging these plays at the various theatres in Stratford. These are the final three.

34   Henry V1 Part Three (Wars of the Roses)

- 2022: Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon.

- Broadcast to cinemas and released on DVD

In Greg's diary of 23rd April 2022: "Yesterday, I announced that I was stepping down as Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company after a decade in the job, and thirty five years after joining the company as an actor. This morning I scattered Tony's ashes in the Avon". There follows a long and poignant piece from his diary for that day.

This was the first mention of Tony's death and explains why there was the gap from June 2021 to April 2022 as mentioned before in Part 33. Greg had not directed these last two plays and that is why we only have two pages. But he's glad that they went so well under his watch. Mark Lawson in the Guardian gave the production five stars. In fact Erica Whyman had been Acting Artistic Director since Greg had taken compassionate leave to look after Tony. 

30th December 2000 - The Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

35   Richard 111

- 2022: Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon.

- Recorded live, broadcast to cinemas and released on DVD.

Greg is back in the director's chair and this will be his last play as Artistic Director. Arthur Hughes is the RSC's first disabled actor to play Richard. Greg shows him a cabin trunk where Tony kept everything including scripts of all his performances including that for Richard 111. We hear so many interesting facts about RSC productions of this play over the years. Such as when actor manager Frank Benson in 1911 made the first silent film of Richard 111 in what is now the Swan theatre. 

Greg reads Tyrant by Stephen Greenblatt that contains veiled refences to Trump and Putin. (See my review of the same book on this blog or on Goodreads). Then when the play was performed by the National Theatre of Budapest, how it had to close because of the audience's loud and long acclaim at the end; to the despair of the government.

Greg tells us that this is the longest play in the canon and that it is always cut. Greg takes out thirty percent which he hopes will come in just over two and a half hours. He describes in detail the scene that involves Arthur Hughes as Richard and Rosie Sheehy as Lady Anne (played with "ferocious fragility". And then on to other scenes described in depth and how they are worked through in rehearsal. They include when Richard is meeting Queen Elizabeth because he wants to marry her daughter, But she marries her off to Richmond instead.

Next up it's Richmond preparing for the Battle of Bosworth against the army of Richard. Greg is worried that they were in danger of over running the already long production. When he gathers the cast together before press night, he shows them a photo of himself at thirteen as Lady Anne in the Preston Catholic College production. But it's Tony who is never far away.

Note: I have seen Anthony Sher on stage three times: The Merchant of Venice at the Barbican Theatre on 28th May 1988 (see post of 21st August 2015, Greg Doran is Soliano), Travelling Light - a National Theatre production at Aylesbury Waterside Theatre (see post 30th March 2012 - gone are the days of decent plays here), and Death of a Salesman at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (see post of 4th May 2015). 

24th May 2001 - The Young Vic, London

36  Cymbeline: An Epilogue

Greg remembers when he was assistant director for Bill Alexander's 1989 RSC production that starred Harriet Walter and Nicholas Farrell at Stratford's The Other Place. And how it was so successful that it transferred from that tiny theatre to the main stage. 

Greg talks about handing over to the next Artistic Director and becoming the Artistic Director Emeritus. He leaves with some nice quotations from Washington Irving's visit to Stratford in 1815. We all have our own memories of that place.

27th July 2016 - The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

Rumpus at the Reservoir

 

Yesterday on my walk past the reservoir, three more swans had arrived. The parents of the five cygnets (now fully grown) were not impressed. There was lots of flying at the newcomers who seemed to be interested in the youngsters. (I found that they do not mate until they are three or four years old and they are not yet past their first birthday.) In the photo above the cygnets are in a group on the left with four swans that include the parents on the right. No idea why they have all dipped their heads underwater. The internet is not much help. 

However, the cygnets were fine and headed for the rushes at this end of the water. It's so nice that the five keep together.

The parents were keeping a look out. It was all quiet when I returned later.

My Shakespeare by Greg Doran - Parts 31 to 33

 

31 The Comedy of Errors: A Lockdown Chapter

- 2020: The two Shakespeare plays in rehearsal when we closed our theatres were The Winter's Tale and The Comedy of Errors.

It's March 2020 !!! Greg tells us what happened to the company through lockdown. The theatres in Stratford had not closed since 1879. Stayed open all through the Great War and only for a month during the Second World War. Even when the main theatre closed for it's major refurbishment,  The Other Place came into it's own. Or when it burned down in 1926 and plays were performed in an old cinema. 

Greg describes what other forms of communication took place including three series of twenty online interviews called "Talking Shakespeare". (See YouTube). He includes an extract from his diary as he tours the empty spaces of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. The on 12th July 2021, (luckily "a balmy sunny evening") the company re-opened in the Swan Gardens next to the river with a live audience. They performed The Comedy of Errors that had been put on hold. 

Unfortunately, nothing about the cast or performance. Except Mark Lawson's five star review.

32  Henry V1, Part One

- 2021: Open rehearsal project.

- Filmed and broadcast live, and available on DVD.

"On Wednesday 23rd June 2021, in a first for the RSC, we live streamed an open rehearsal ..... of Henry V1, Part One". This is to be held in the Ashcroft Room that sits above the Swan Theatre. (See extracts on YouTube). We hear all about this space "the most beautiful rehearsal room in the world". Named after Dame Peggy Ashcroft.

What follows are Greg's meticulous entries in his diary such as:

Monday 31st May 2021: The company gather for the first time, including the video unit. First

Tuesday 1st June 2021: First live streaming with the actors in a circle reading their lines.

Wednesday 2nd June 2021: The first main rehearsal starts at the beginning. The floor is marked out for social distancing. There is an amazing piece about how two actors having to shake hands and having to sanitise before and after. 

And so on. A reception for the new costume workshop reminded me of a Behind the Scenes Tour that I described in my post of 29th July 2016. 

It was Tony's birthday on Monday 12th June and on the previous Saturday before they celebrate with soft boiled eggs. A long description about the best way to make them. But it's on the Monday Greg tests positive for Covid. Only to be followed by Tony's diagnosis of liver cancer on the Wednesday. 

Back to the production that has been exceptional and a big success. Greg goes to see Catherine Mallyon who has long been Executive Director of the RSC to tell her about Tony. 

33 Henry V1, Part Two (Henry V1: Rebellion)

-2022: The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon.

- Broadcast live to cinemas and released on DVD.

It's significant that there is nothing in the book between June 2021 and April 2022. We can guess why. Too hard for Greg to write. Even this chapter is the shortest in the book of just five pages. Greg has to decide how to deal with the largest cast in the cannon, sixty plus characters. He sees the play as a series of pageants. The first is to be undertaken by the RSC's Next Generation group. These are young people from low income families. Oscar is sixteen and in awe of Greg's hair and wonders who does it. The reply is Sandra Smith who is head of wigs and make up and has cut it for the last thirty five years. 

Next we are told about Shakespeare Nation that is a community project with seventy four adults in six teams. Finally there are nine drama graduates and who they are. For the first time in it's history, the RSC has one hundred and twenty one actors: professional, amateur and young. At last we get a run down of the play itself. Again, there are bits on YouTube.

Swan Lake at Aylesbury Waterside Theatre

Alison found some late extraordinarily cheap tickets for Mergaliyev Classical Ballet's one night of Swan Lake. It meant that we were not seated together, but that was probably why. There was also a live orchestra which was why I decided to go. Now this is not to say that the performance and music were the best. But there was still so much to appreciate from this little known organisation.

By far my favourite part was when the sixteen swans glided across the stage. Not the twenty four we saw with English National Ballet at Milton Keynes, or the sixty with the same company at The Royal Albert Hall. But they were excellent, especially when, as I had not seen before, they gathered to dance in a close knit group.

Maybe the soloists cannot compare with those other companies (we saw Darcy Bussell with the Royal Ballet twice) and I feel that the middle section of individual demonstrations was the weakest. The orchestra seemed a little unfamiliar with the score, although there were times when loudness was called for, that they were far better. 

I was surprised that the theatre was packed, but for a provincial performance, this was fine. And we had a live orchestra, which I believe even Mathew Bourne does now on tour after that awful night of recorded music for his  Red Shoes in 2017.

My Shakespeare by Greg Doran - Parts 28 to 30

 

28   The Tempest

- 2016: The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon; Barbican Theatre, London.

- Broadcast to cinemas and released on DVD. 

Greg begins this chapter with "At Uni I became obsessed with the elusive and largely forgotten conventions of the court masque". This follows a long description of his imagining one in 1605. A year later in 1606, The Tempest was performed to celebrate the wedding of the king's daughter Elizabeth. It was one William Strachey who chronicled the above, (That reminded me of Lytton Strachey whose biography of Queen Victoria was on our A Level syllabus). 

In 2014, Greg is at a digital presentation by Intel where he was bowled over by the images it produced. This led him to re-imagine the play as never before. Along with Andy Serkis and his team at Imaginarium, Greg goes full pelt on this modern staging of the the play he loves so much. Simon Russell Beale is to play Prospero and Greg introduces the rest of the cast. He takes us through the plot, but it's when the "technical period on stage" takes place that the magic starts. And what magic. Setting up twenty seven projectors was nor easy. "But in the end we pulled off the impossible." Greg gives a name check for all the technical people involved in putting on the visuals. 

The critics were actually divided on the technical aspects, but not on Simon Russell Beal's superlative performance.

28th January 2003: The Old Vic, London. 5th August 1989: The Barbican Theatre, London. 2nd March 2023: Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon.

29   Troilus and Cressida

- 2018: The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon.

- Broadcast to cinemas and released on DVD.

It starts with Greg on the train on his way to meet Dame Evelyn Glennie. He wants her imput into his next play. When he arrives at her office in Huntingdon, she shows him all her percussion instruments. He's sold.

Apparently there is some mystery about the first publication of Troilus and Cressida, and it's inclusion in the First Folio. Greg talks about how he and Tony visited Troy ten years ago. This inspired him about how to set up a dystopian future. He then cast women in the roles of Gods, "all the regendering choices were made with vigilant precision". He name checks all the actresses and their roles. "I was very pleased when the Evening Standard, in a glowing review, declared "This production boasts a 50:50 gender balanced cast, an RSC first"."

Greg says "Frankly I don't think he (Shakespeare) knows or cares if this is a comedy, history or tragedy ..... as it is all these things". He tells us that this was John Barton's favourite play. (He was one the great modern directors of Shakespeare). When he died at the age of 90, his sister sends Greg a bunch of his scripts. They include four battered editions of this play, all with notes. But amongst all this stuff is Greg's favourite: "Director's notes for rehearsal". He uses this for the first gathering of the cast. 

There is then a piece about how Cicely Berry ("legendary voice coach") died before the first night, and all about her career. "The following spring, we (with Tony) planted a cherry tree for Cis, next to John's behind the Swan".

26th August 2009: The Globe Theatre, London.

30   Measure for Measure

- 2019: The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon; and (interrupted) UK tour; Teatre Municipal de Girona/Teatro Principal de Vitoria, Spain

- Broadcast to cinemas and released on DVD.

Greg takes stock after "five years running the RSC". He seeks opinions from all his staff. He starts the new season by involving the other two directors in forming a cohesive staging of the three plays, and having one designer for all three. "The company would reflect the nation in terms of gender, diversity, regionality and disability". Greg will direct Measure for Measure. He describes how it includes modern themes of relationships particularly those such as "Me Too". 

The play is set in Vienna and we hear about how it's history influences the play. There is an interesting piece in the section on rehearsals where they experiment on one speech from Claudio where he is pleading with his sister to save his life. Then Greg likes the ending where "none of the unions he has so carefully stage-managed seem destined for great happiness". And how when the Duke and Isabella are left on stage there is a clever last direction.

Greg tells us that he missed the first preview as he was at the hospital in St John's Wood where Tony was having a successful five hour operation. The play received good reviews. As a result it goes on tour until, in the middle of which, Covid strikes. 

8th April 2010: The Almeida Theatre, London.

Sentimental Value - Film of the Year 2025

 

It was my last film of the year. The 27th December at Cineworld in Hemel Hempstead. No sign of it showing at my local Odeon over the Christmas holidays. Sentimental Value is a Norwegian movie from director Joachim Trier. I loved his previous film The Worst Person in the World, and it's lead actress Renate Reinsve is here again. She plays Nora, the estranged daughter of Stellan Skarsgard's Gustav Borg, a famous film director now aging and wanting his actress daughter for his last film. She turns him down. He has returned to the family home which, as Molly Haskell describes in the Winter Edition of Sight and Sound magazine, is "a character in it's own right".

Sophie Monks Kaufman in the same publication says that Stellan "gives the performance of his life" with the "agony of the man at the end of his own career".  Although I had to disagree when she says he's so different "prancing on a sun drenched beach". He was drunk again.  But this does not hide the fact that he is a horrible person. What kind of man is he who cannot watch other people's films? He makes anyone he meets feel like they are the most important person he has ever met, before discarding them for the next. But I have not seen better from an actor in 2025. An Oscar awaits. There is a scene with his other daughter Agnes ( a subtle performance from Inga Ibsdotter Lilleas) is so predictable it makes you angry. Fortunately she is not taken in. 

When her father moved to Sweden for good when they were children, it was Inga who helped her sister so much and the two remain close. And it's actually Nora who carries the movie (also an awards contender). Then there is Rachel Kemp played by Elle Fanning, an important and successful actress that Gustav decides to cast in the role he had planned for Nora.

When I thought that the ending was going to be set in the house that has been in the family for generations, as the director had planned, we finally find it was a film set. (Molly Haskell mistakenly told us it was their "house as both home and sound stage"). But after filming the very last scene of his movie, it's Stellan's reaction to his daughter's performance that says everything about his life and regret about those missing years. But can he change?

The film has already won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival (the winner of the Palme d'Or was political and one I will avoid). It has also won the best international independent film at the British Independent Film Awards and lots at other minor festivals. Awaiting the Golden Globes later in January and then the Oscars.

There is one interesting article on Kodak's Motion Picture Website about how "DP Kasper Tuxen DFF harnessed Kodak Film" as the cinematographer had for The Worst Person in the World. Both films were shot on 35mm film, unlike the modern use of digital film.

My Shakespeare by Greg Doran - Parts 25 to 27

 

25   Henry IV, Part 2

-2014: Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon; Barbican Theatre, London; and tour to Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong; Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), New York.

-Filmed, broadcast live and available on DVD, as part of Live from Stratford-upon-Avon.

Greg starts by asking whether Shakespeare started off to write two plays about Henry IV, or was the first such a success he had to write a sequel. ( Not the last to do this). Some people even prefer Part 2 to the first, but as Greg tells us "It is certainly in my experience a much harder play to do". We then get some background to how it came to be written, including references to The Famous Victories of Henry V that included parts about Prince Hal. 

It is then on to a scene that includes Falstaff and Mrs Quickly as well as Prince Hal and Poins. Followed by talking about Pistol. Greg just seems to be describing the play rather than his usual personal account. But his description of the scene for the potential recruits for the army is so well written. All those comic idiots, especially the brave, or foolhardy, Feeble.

Better is the death scene of Henry IV and that "remorseful apology" from his son that results in a wonderful reconciliation. But why then did Shakespeare immediately change to Gloucestershire and those reprobates Falstaff and Bardolf who know nothing about what has just happened. Greg cuts it from the play! But he doesn't tamper with the scene when Falstaff returns to London to congratulate his old friend, only to be rejected by the new king and that very public humiliation. Henry tells him "Presume not that I am the thing I was" and banishes Falstaff. It all ends with the arrival of the Lord Chief Justice to arrest him and cart him off to the Fleet prison. 

Anthony Sher's performance as Falstaff at BAM was described by the critic for the New York Times as "one of the greatest performances I have ever seen".

9th August 2000 at The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

26     Henry V

- 2015: Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon; Barbican Theatre, London; King and Country Tour.

Broadcast to cinemas and released on DVD.

Greg takes to cast to Westminster Abbey to see the tomb of Henry V. He died at the early age of thirty five. Greg goes back to 1599 when Shakespeare is opening Henry V at the newly built Globe Theatre. At the same time, the Duke of Essex is mustering 16,000 troops to do battle in Ireland. The co-incidence is not lost on the audience. When Gregg introduces the start of Act 2, its the Chorus who says "Now all the youth of England are on fire". (Maybe not to go).

We are soon into the comedy of Pistol and Nym vying for the hand of Mrs Quickly. When we get to France it's the Chorus again letting us know the troops get "a little touch of Henry in the night". Although Henry in disguise is quarrelling with a few of them. Greg lets us know how many times the play was performed over the years when conflicts were actually taking place. 

He takes the production to China. The director of the Shanghai Arts Centre, Nick Yu, joins the company in rehearsals and wonders why such a big event in English history would make any sense to a Chinese audience. At the end he finds this was a play "about war, what it feels like, and what it costs. It's not a piece of propaganda".

12th September 2000 at The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

27   King Lear

- 2016 and revived 2018: Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon; Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York.

Broadcast to cinemas and released on DVD

A special play for me as this was for my A Level at school. We were taken to London to see Paul Schofield as Lear. Greg talks about how he could not face the play for years as it was too close to home. He explains all about his father's dementia. (That he always wore a tie, as did my father, not only for work. I haven't worn one since the day I finished work nineteen years ago). Greg tells us he could never watch the play, even when performed at Stratford. His father died in 2010 at the age of ninety. 

Come 2013, and Greg talks to Tony about him taking on the lead role for a staging of Lear in 2016. (Tony had played The Fool twice, so knew it well). There is a great piece about presenting Lear's entrance at the start. Greg also describes why they include the mock trial from the first edition of the play that is not in the First Folio (1623 version). There is a wonderful description of Graham Turner's Fool as "dangerous radical alternative comedy". The set is also quite something, designed by Nick Turner.

I cannot remember the scene, described by Greg, when "two men walk on to a bare stage, one of them falls flat on his face, and then they both stand up, and start to walk off again. It's surely one of the finest scenes ever written". 

When the production went to the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) in 2018, it's there that Greg finally understands why Shakespeare changed his own happy ending to one of tragedy, one that early audiences rejected and had to be changed to pacify them. Then only Nahum Tate's 1681 revision was acceptable with that happy ending when Lear and Cordelia are happily reconciled. Greg said that he had ignored Shakespeare's instruction to "make the audience feel it's all going to end well". Before "bringing the play to it's tragic conclusion".

8th December 2007 at The New London Theatre

1963 at the Aldwych Theatre, London

We're still here

 

Last week I thought the swans and cygnets had moved on. Twice passing Weston Turville Reservoir I could not see any sign they were still there. However, yesterday here they were. All five cygnets (now almost fully grown but still with remnants of their brown feathers) and the two parents. What was incredible was the three in the photo above flying circuits of the reservoir before I had time to find my camera. And then disappearing into the reeds. Below is one of the other five trying to catch up.